European Commission Vice President Siim Kallas today published the first ever mid term review of 92 priority Trans-European Networks infrastructure projects, co-financed by the Commission under the TEN-T programme for 2007-2013. The review provides a detailed "snap shot" of the state of play of each major infrastructure project in terms of financing and completion. The aim is to introduce more accountability into the funding process and to make sure that EU money is being well spent. Over half (52.2%) of these 92 major pan-European infrastructure projects are still on track for completion by December 2013, despite the tough financial environment. For the rest, the mid term review applies a strict "use it or lose it" principle. A two year extension is granted to credible projects which are facing difficulties in the economic crisis, to support their completion. But for projects which, at this mid term stage, are no longer credible, EU funding will be cut and re-allocated (see below for lists of projects).

Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said: "This mid term review is about supporting key investments in infrastructure and delivering value for taxpayers' money. I am greatly encouraged that despite the tough economic circumstances, many Member States are making the right decisions to invest in the economic infrastructure that is critical to Europe's recovery. With this review, we want the scarce resources available to be managed strictly. But where projects are no longer meeting their objectives then EU funding must be cut and re-allocated so we make best use of the limited resources."

The review shows that 48 projects out of 92 will be finished by the deadline of 31 December 2013 (52.2%).

A further 29 projects of the projects (31.5%) are credible in terms of structure and financing and could be complete by 2015. For this reason, and faced with an exceptional period of financial crisis, the Commission will give a two year extension for the use of EU funding until 2015. This extension will be subject to specific political, technical and financial conditions, which will optimise the effectiveness of the TEN-T programme. The same budgetary rigour will apply for any future delays of projects; activities that would slip beyond 2015 will be cut.

10 projects (10.9%) have received a conditional extension to 2015 but have had a partial reduction of EU funding imposed.

5 projects are not credible at this stage (5.4%) and for these projects EU funding will be cut and re-allocated.

Moreover, any project in the above four categories has been screened in a detailed way for each of their objectives. In case these objectives are no longer met, the related budget will be cut.

As a result of the above analysis, around €311 million will be liberated to be re-injected into new calls for proposals under the current TEN-T programme.

What are Trans European Networks

The TEN-T programme was established by the European Union to help build missing links and remove transport bottlenecks, creating a single, multimodal network of transport corridors throughout Europe.

Projects are financed by Member States and the European Commission. Up to a maximum of 30% of the budget for infrastructure works on a project and 50% for studies can come from the European TEN-T budget.

The 92 projects reviewed by the Commission correspond to an overall investment of 32.647 billion Euro and a TEN-T (European) contribution of 5.3 billion Euro.